Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions of 27 March 2017, Official Report, column 16, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of that alternative proposed by the Work and Pensions Committee to permit a defined group of women who have been affected by state pension age changes to take early retirement, from a specified age, on an actuarially neutral basis; what the costs in that estimate of (a) means-tested benefits, (b) national insurance contributions, (c) changes to working patterns and taxation, (d) unfunded public sector pensions schemes, (e) bus passes, (f) winter fuel payments, (g) other non-means-tested benefits and (h) setting up, operating and communicating that alternative were; and what estimate his Department has made of the likely take-up of that alternative and the effect of that take-up on its estimated costs.

The Department has made no estimate of the cost of permitting a defined group of women to take early retirement on an actuarially neutral basis, nor has it estimated possible take-up levels of any such scheme.

The Government Actuary submitted evidence to the Work and Pensions Select Committee on early access to State Pension in April last year, including indicative estimates of potential costs should such a scheme be in operation. The evidence submitted by the Government Actuary can be found at the Work and Pensions Select Committee website at:

http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/work-and-pensions-committee/inquiries/parliament-2015/early-drawing-pension-15-16/